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Saturday, September 16, 2006
Peace talks hang in balance: Moro militants
THE Moro Islamic Liberation Front admitted that peace negotiations with the government "have turned to serious uncertainty" after both panels did not agree on salient issues during their 13th exploratory talks in Kuala Lumpur on September 6.
In its official website, the MILF pointed out that the government peace panel has not been given sufficient mandate to negotiate with their counterpart in the MILF on the issue of territory of the ancestral domain aspect of the Tripoli Agreement of 2001.
"They are still thinking in the box or within the shallow framework of the Philippine Constitution, which epitomizes only the vested interests of the majority to the detriment of the minority including the Moro people," said Khaled Musa, deputy chair of the MILF committee on information.
Musa made the statement in reaction to the earlier statement of the government's chief negotiator Secretary Silvestre Afable Jr., who said that "what the MILF wants is an extra-constitutional solution to the issue of territory, which is not possible to negotiate under the present terms of reference of the RP government peace panel."
Mohagher Iqbal, MILF chief peace negotiator, said the government has not really changed and it is just "dribbling around" as it insists on implementing socio-economic programs and parallel negotiations on the ground "to win the hearts and minds of the MILF fighters and destroy their mass base."
Iqbal said the Arroyo government is treating the peace process as a mere counter-insurgency measure by seeking to restore peace in Mindanao without really addressing the real cause of the conflict.
"The Arroyo regime is not decisive and has no real thing to offer to the MILF except rhetoric. They are offering something which is conditional on the occurrence of another thing," Iqbal was quoted as saying.
Datuk Othman bin Abdu Razak, the Malaysian facilitator, was quoted as saying that "there is no point continuing the talks if the government peace panel has no mandate to commit" especially on the issue on territory.
Malaysian authorities reportedly threatened to pull out the International Monitoring Team in Mindanao if the talks cannot move forward.
In the recent talks in Kuala Lumpur, the government peace panel was offering the MILF areas other than the present jurisdiction of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) subject to the passing of a favorable legislation by Congress.
The MILF flatly rejected the offer, saying it cannot accept something that is conditional. The MILF preferred a "package offer" and making it constitutional is a matter that is internal to the government.
The MILF reminded the government that to accept that offer is repeating the mistakes of the Moro National Liberation Front. (BOT/With press release)
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (September 16, 2006 issue)
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